The number of people caught speeding per hour of enforcement has dropped this year, according to new data from Transport for NSW’s Centre for Road Safety.
Executive Director of the Centre for Road Safety, Bernard Carlon said, on average, 3.5 drivers were caught per hour of mobile speed camera enforcement in June, compared with five drivers caught per hour immediately after changes to the mobile speed camera program were implemented in November.
Mr Carlon said the changes included increased enforcement hours, as well as a reduction in high-visibility livery on vehicles and the removal of warning signs.
“I want to thank the majority of New South Wales drivers and riders for slowing down on our roads, with 98 per cent of vehicles passing Mobile Speed Cameras not exceeding the speed limit until the end of May this year,” Mr Carlon said.
“That two per cent of people who are doing the wrong thing are on notice – your behaviour is putting lives at risk and you will be caught,” he said.
“If 98 per cent of people can do the right thing, then so can you.”
Mr Carlon said early indications showed changes to the Mobile Speed Camera Program, along with other initiatives, were contributing to a reduction in trauma, with the number of deaths on NSW roads down by 56 in the 2020/21 financial year, compared to the average of the three previous financial years.
The Executive Director said the number of fatalities linked to speeding had also dropped from almost 50 per cent last year to around 40 per cent this year to date.
He said that while most people associated speed-related death or injuries with high speeds, the truth was that at least two thirds of speeding drivers or riders involved in those crashes were travelling less than 10km/h over the speed limit.
“The complacency that some drivers have, that ‘a little bit over’ the speed limit won’t hurt, has to stop,” Mr Carlon said.
“It is demonstrably untrue and the evidence proves this,” he said.
